Air cooler



Nov. 10, 1936. E. c. BALLMAN AIR COOLER Filed July 25, 1932 000 00 0 Onol9ouooooonag oo -l SNA. 1...,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR COOLER Edwin C. Ballman, St. Louis, Mo.Application July 25, 1932, Serial No. 624,561

5 Claims. (Cl. 62-131) 'Ihis invention pertains to an air cooler adaptedfor cooling the air of a room by means of ice or similar refrigerant.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a cooling devicewhich may be loaded with ice and which has means for inducing acirculation of air through the cooler to be cooled by the ice and thendischarged into the room.

Another object of this invention is to provide such an apparatus ofsimple construction and which will be efcient in operation.

Another object is to provide such a cooler in which a denite circulationof air is established such as to promote high efficiency in operation.Further objects will appear from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, -in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a cooler embodying thisinvention;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of a cooler illustrating anotherembodiment of this invention; and

Figure 4 is a detail section on line 4 4 of Figure 3 somewhat enlarged.

Referring to the drawing I designates a base upon which is mounted acasing 2 whichmay be of metal or other suitable material and which mayhave a lining 3 of suitable heat insulating material.

The upper part of the casing is separate from the lower part and ishinged at 4 so that the top may be opened for replenishing the coolerwith ice. This upper portion forms a lid or cover for the casing.

The lower part of the casing such as the base I is provided with an airinlet opening 5 while the upper part of the casing is provided with anoutlet opening which may take the form of a series of perforations 6,

Mounted Within the casing I is a container 1 adapted to receive ice orsimilar refrigerant so as to be cooled thereby. 'I'he container 1 isspaced from the bottom and side walls of the casing so as to provide anair duct through the space below the casing and up along the sidesthereof from the inlet 5 to the outlet 6. In the embodiment of Figure 1the container 'I is shown as having corrugations in its surface so as toincrease the extent of cooling surface and to make the container morerigid.

The bottom 8 may be conical in form as indicated in Figure 1, or it maybe iiat as shown in Figure 3. Mounted within the container 6 in theembodiment of Figure 1 is a removable platform or shelf upon which theice may rest and which is adapted to protect' the bottom against impactby the ice.

In Figure 2 the casing is shown as hexagonal in shape. This forms aconvenient shape and one with which a good eciency of operation may beobtained. 'I'his casing may, o1' course, l

be of any other suitable shape such as rectangular or circular.Furthermore the container "I is shown `as circular in cross section inFigure 2. It may of course be constructed of other shapes preferablysuch as to conform to the shape of the casing.

In the embodiment of Figure l a blower I0 is mounted below the icecontainer and adjacent the inlet opening 5. This may be driven by amotor II which in the embodiment shown is mounted with its shaftvertical. A baille I2 of suitable shape is positioned to surround theblower, and is so formedas to direct the air current toward the centerof the bottom of the ice container. In order to increase the coolingsurface the bottom of the ice. container may have mounted therein so asto be thermally in contact therewith a set of radial fins or plates I3.In the embodiment of Figure 2 the i'lns I3 may also be arrangedradially. In the illustration of Fig.

n 3 they are shown extending directly across the bottom of thecontainer. In Figure 3 is also shown a set of similar ns I4 mountedvertically in the space between the ice container and the casing walland preferably mounted on the ice container. Similar ns may be used inconnection with Figure 1 the same either being mounted on the corrugatedsides-or with the sides straight throughout that portion covered by thens.

It will be noted that the fins I3 and I4 not only serve to absorb heatfrom the air but also form guides dening a series of parallel airchannels or paths so that the flow of air is guided from the point whereit enters the casing near the floor of the room in a denite path to andalong the side faces of the ice container. This is of particularadvantage in such a device as this where the ow of air is in a directionopposed to the natural circulation by convection, as it tends to avoidthe establishment of eddy currents when the fan is started anddefinitely establishes a directed flow along the proper path.

A simple construction for these ns is shown in Figure 4 in which the nsare shown as formed into channel form and secured at their back to thebottom 8, or the side wall of the container 'I.

The securing means may be rivets or the iin members may be soldered tothe container. In any case the connection is such as to effect a goodthermal contact between the fins and the container in order to providefor efcient heat transmission from one to the other.

In either embodiment a drip pan I5 may be provided to catch thecondensation drip from the container. A drain cock I 6 provides foremptying the container for cleaning or the like.

The upper part of the casing is provided with means for deiiecting thecirculating current of air downwardly against the ice in the container.In the embodiment of Figure 1 the plate I'I is mounted in the casingwhich plate carries a downwardly extending tubular member I8. The wallsof the member I8 extend downwardly below the upper edge of the container'I and tend to deflect air currents coming over the top of the wall ofthe container downwardly so as to cause such currents to impinge uponthe ice in the container. 'Ihereafter the air flows upwardly through thetubular member I8 and out at the outlet perforations 6.

In the embodiment of Figure 3 the air circulates along the bottom andupwardly along the side passing over the top'edge of the ice containerand propelled by a fan I9 or the like in the upper part of the casing. Abaiiie 20 which is preferably constructed of pervious material such ascloth is arranged to extend downwardly in the path of the air current soas to deflect the same downwardly against the ice inthe container. Thisbaille also serves to entrap dust and other suspended matter carried bythe air current and thereby functions to clean the air before it isdischarged into the room.

In the embodiment of Figure 1 the ice in the container reduces thetemperature thereof while the blower I0 blows air in all directionswithin the baiile I2. This baiile turns the current of air radiallyinwardly toward the center of the bottom of the ice container afterwhich' the air turns outwardly and flows radially along the bottom andbetween the ns I3. The air current then turns upwardly into the space orspaces between the ice container and the casing. Upon arriving at thetop of the ice container the air current is turned inwardly by the plateI`I in Figure 1 or by the top of the casing in Figure 3, and is thendeflected downwardly by the baille I8 or 20. The downwardly deflectedcurrent of air impinges on the ice in the container and then flowsupwardly to the outlet 6 and out into the room.

While the drawing shows a certain definite arrangement of the ns I3 andI4, this arrangement may be varied to some extent to suit the particularconditions encountered. l

It will be seen that this invention provides a cooler of simpleconstruction which will be eifective in its operation to cool the aircirculated therethrough. This air is taken in at an outlet in the lowerportion of the casingl and is propelled through the duct providedbetween the casing walls and the ice container. During its travel theair is in contact with the cold portions of the container and beforebeing finally discharged it is brought into contact with the ice itself.The arrangement of the conducting fins is such that the air current iscontinually in contact therewith and these-fins are in thermal contactwith the cold ice container. Accordingly the air gives up its heatrapidly to the ice container and is quickly reduced to a lowtemperature. When the operation of the fan is stopped the insulatinglining of the casing serves top'revent too rapid melting of the ice.

While this device has been described as a unitary structure it will beunderstood that certain individual features or subcombinations thereofmay be useful by themselves Without reference to the other features orthe rest of the combination. It is understood, therefore that theemployment of such individual features and subcombinations iscontemplated by this invention j and within the scope of the appendedclaims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made, withinthe scope of the appended claims, in the details of construction andoperation without departing from the spirit of this invention; it is tobe understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to thespecific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An air cooler, comprising, a casing, an ice container therein, an airinlet in the lower part of said casing, an air outlet in the upper partthereof, an air duct in said casing adapted to conduct a current of airfrom said inlet upwardly along the side wall of said container to saidoutlet, means in said duct at the top of said container adapted todeflect the air current downwardly against the ice therein, and means insaid duct for propelling the air therethrough.

2. An air cooler, comprising, a casing, an ice container therein, an airinlet in the lower part of said casing, an air outlet in the upper partthereof, an air duct in said casing adapted to conduct a' current of airfrom said inlet upwardly along the side wall of said container to saidoutlet, a pervious baffle in said duct at the top of said containeradapted to deflect the air current downwardly against the ice therein,and means in said duct for propelling the air therethrough.'

3. An air cooler, comprising, a casing, an ice container therein, an airinlet in the lower part of said casing, an air outlet in the upper partthereof, an air duct in said casing adapted to conduct a current of airfrom said inlet upwardly along the side wall of said container to saidoutlet, a cloth baille in said duct at the top `of said containeradapted to deiiect the air current downwardly against; the icetherein,and means in said duct for propelling the air therethrough.

4. A room cooler, comprising, a casing, an ice container therein spacedfrom the bottom and a side wall thereof, an air inlet in the lower partof said casing adapted to take air near the floor of the room, an airoutlet in the upper part thereof, an air duct in said casing adapted toconduct a current of air from said inlet along the bottom and side wallof said casing to said outlet, a series of heat-conduction air-guidingfins in said duct extending radially of and in contact with the bottomof said container, and a blower mounted in said casing below saidcontainer adapted to propel the air upwardly along said duct.

5. A room cooler, comprising, a casing, an ice container therein spacedfrom the bottom and side walls thereof, an air inlet in the lower partof said casing adapted to take air near the floor of the room, an airoutlet in the upper part thereof, an air duct in said casing adapted toconduct a current of air from said inlet along the bottom and side wallof said casing to said outlet, a series of heat-conduction air-guidingns in said duct extending radially of and in contact with the bottom ofsaid container, and a blower mounted in said casing below said containeradapted to propel the air in a plurality of radial directions along saidbottom and upwardly through said duct.

EDWIN C. BALLMAN.

